North Shore Animal League America, in conjunction with the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management, has announced an Emergency Foster Care Referral Program for pets who have fallen victim to Hurricane Sandy. Nassau County and NSALA will combine their resources to assist pet owners find foster homes so that their temporarily homeless pets can be given a place to live while their owners continue to recover from the storm.

“This program pairs a beloved pet with a foster parent while its owner recovers from Hurricane Sandy,” said County Executive Ed Mangano. “It’s a great way of providing peace of mind, love and care for the pet until the owner and pet can be safely reunited.”

Each applicant will be thoroughly screened by an NSALA fostering specialist, and will be provided with a list of potential animals that match their criteria. Pet owners will be given the information about the foster parents that match their own criteria also, so that they can determine whom they would like to place their animal with. In other words, an agreement will be made between the animal’s owner and the foster parent before anything moves forward.

“Allowing pet owners the opportunity to participate in the Emergency Foster Care Referral Program where their beloved pets can enjoy a home environment is critical for both pets and their owners,” said Lindsey Calabrese, communications manager at North Shore Animal League America. “Our goal is to get these animals into a home environment as soon as possible and help alleviate additional stress on pet owners who have already endured so much.”

In preparation for Hurricane Sandy, Nassau County, the county’s SPCA, NSALA, and the Pet Safe Coalition set up an emergency pet shelter. Just one day before the storm, North Shore Animal League America set up two of their mobile rescue and adoption units at Mitchel Field Athletic Complex in Uniondale to help shelter displaced pets. After the hurricane, the shelter was moved to a larger location, the gymnasium at Mitchel Field, to accommodate the number of animals that were displaced.